Corey LaJoie has always loved the story of Marty Robbins.

The two men certainly have similarities, as both found a way to add the title of NASCAR driver to their resume. But what always has astounded LaJoie is that Robbins also found a way to be a country music star at the very same time.

“I always thought that it was such a cool story that he was able to be a big and famous country music artist who carved out a couple weekends out of the year to go be a NASCAR guy,” Lajoie says during a recent interview with Taste of Country. “The thought of a guy like Morgan Wallen today being a NASCAR driver must have been what it was like to watch Robbins out there on the track.”

He laughs.

“I mean, here he was racing at the fairgrounds against guys like Coo Coo Marlin and Darrell Waltrip, banging doors with them and then he'd get out and go to the Grand Ole Opry and sing,” he says. “That story deserves to have more light shined on it.”

And LaJoie is going to do exactly that this weekend at Darlington Raceway, as he honors the country music star by transforming his race car to resemble Robbins' iconic No. 777. Utilizing a vibrant pink-and-yellow paint scheme, the car will be one of many that will turn out for the Official Throwback Weekend of NASCAR at Darlington Raceway.

“I don't usually take credit for a lot of the lot of good ideas, 'cause they're generally not mine, but I did get the ball rolling on this paint scheme,” LaJoie says with a laugh.

While country music fans might best recall Robbins' for his 52 studio albums and 17 No. 1 singles on the country music charts, the Country Music Hall of Fame member also made 35 NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) starts from 1966 – 1982, logged one Top 5 (Michigan) and six Top 10s between 1971-1974, including two at Darlington. Robbins died in 1982 at the age of 57.

The Goodyear 400 from Darlington Raceway will be televised live on FS1 Sunday, May 8, beginning at 3:30PM ET. The 12th of 36 races on the 2022 NCS schedule will air live on the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

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